President Donald Trump's associates want any potential legal settlement with CBS News to include a bailout for the Kennedy Center amid the performing arts center's financial ruin under his "MAGA-inflected" leadership, The Atlantic reported on Tuesday.
"As part of the effort to raise money for the Kennedy Center, Trump allies have held private discussions about possibly asking that any settlement Trump reaches with CBS News include money earmarked for the Kennedy Center, one of the people familiar with the June fundraiser told us," said the report.
CBS News faces a $20 million lawsuit from Trump, alleging that the network selectively edited last year's presidential interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris to boost her campaign over his, committing a "fraud" on voters. The case has been widely dismissed as meritless by legal experts; however, some high-ranking figures at CBS' parent company Paramount reportedly want to settle the case to prevent Trump from seeking revenge by blocking Paramount's upcoming merger.
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In February, it was reported that a major hurdle to settling the case was that some Paramount executives feared shareholders could sue them for bribery.
This comes amid reporting that Trump, who has said his leadership will bring a “Golden Age of Arts and Culture,” is prepared to attend a production of "Les Misérables" at the struggling venue shortly after hosting a private fundraising reception.
"In his first term, Trump rejected Washington’s most celebrated cultural institution, after artists protested his administration and threatened to boycott Kennedy Center-related events at the White House," said the report. However, "after returning to office this year, Trump took over the Kennedy Center, replacing board members and making himself chair — prompting questions about whether the donations that sustain the institution would dry up. Now Trump, a prolific political fundraiser, is raising money for the center, which, like much of the rest of the city’s institutions, he hopes to remake in his image."
So far, fears that Trump's takeover would collapse public support and patronage seem to be coming true, with the Kennedy Center having been mired in a stunning loss of ticket sales since February. Meanwhile, "Several artists — including Lin-Manuel Miranda and Issa Rae — have canceled scheduled performances for the upcoming 2025-26 season since Trump announced his takeover."
